New England Concours d’Elegance to feature Fifties Station Wagons

The striking designs of American 1950s station wagons will be the highlight at this year’s New England Concours d’Elegance. Several outstanding and rarely seen ’50s wagons are scheduled to be on display at Stratton Mountain Resort in Southern Vermont on Sunday, July 17. There’s still room for a few more station wagons, so if you own a stock-spec show-quality wagon and would like to showcase it at New England’s premier concours, then please contact us. Send photos of your wagon for review to: rlentinello@hemmings.com.

Ejmesqsays:

April 15, 2011 10:30 am

That stunning Olds wagon, with the ’56 flippers, brings to mind the incredibly beautiful wagons that came out of the ’50s. The ’50s esthetic of the automobile is a treasure that all of us who remember will never forget.

JPsays:

April 15, 2011 10:47 am

Michael Hammsays:

April 15, 2011 10:50 am

I’m waiting with baited breath for my 58 Buick Estate Wagon to get out of the paint shop. Now, maybe I should take a trip to see if there is a finished one in Vermont. I’ve never been close to a finished Buick wagon, it might be fun. Cheers.

Mike Rectorsays:

April 15, 2011 11:08 am

Racer Brownsays:

April 15, 2011 11:19 am

Docdoowopsays:

April 15, 2011 11:43 am

Identical to the very first car Dad let me drive. (Albeit a ten foot creep at idle.) The family drove it from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. at blossom time, with everyone remarking on its appropriate color.

Bruce Larsonsays:

April 15, 2011 11:48 am

Actually the hubcaps on this car are aftermarket caps. The
original caps for this car are also nice and to a purist like me it would be a real plus for the owner to be able to find a set to
set the car off.

Mabe Pouncysays:

April 15, 2011 11:55 am

When we were teenagers in the 60’s it was uncool to be seen in a station wagon. A friend of ours would drive his mom’s 58 Chevy Brookwood and we would lay down on the seat when he crusied the drive in’s so no one would see us..

kentuckyguysays:

April 15, 2011 1:51 pm

As a child of the ’50’s and 60’s, I just love station wagons! My family had a plehtora over the years. A ’56 Dodge, ’59 Rambler Rebel, 60′,62′, and 63 Ramblers, Then even after I left home. A couple of Toyota’s and a Ford Fairmont. I to this day think they are really cool, and when they started to fade in popularity, I grew to love the Hatchback design as well. The gorgeous 4 door hardtop wagons of GM are awesome. We could never have afforded one though. Also was Blown away by the Olds (and Buick?) Vista cruisers. Man In my neighborhood whenI was 15, Special ordered from. AMC a 1967 Rambler Rebel wagon with a 327 and a 4-speed.. Guy was my HERO!.. Have never seen another one like it ever.

Dave The Corvair Guysays:

April 15, 2011 3:12 pm

Growing up we had a 1961 Chevy Bel Air wagon we called “Bessie.” Bessie took us everywhere! I remember a very hot trip to New Jersey in 1966 – very hot. Bessie didn’t have air conditioning. My folks put 100K on Bessie and replaced her with a 1969 Buick Electra. Bessie’s new owner put another 200K miles on her. The last I saw her was in 1982. I hope she survived! For those who didn’t know, Corvair’s had a wagon – for two years 1961 and 1962. They were called the Lakewood and the Monza, respectively. No late model Corvair wagon – Chevy had 9 wagons for sale at the time and they needed a 10th to further dilute the market even more like a hole in the head. However, a one-off late model Corvair wagon would be fun to build!

Glen D.Bibbysays:

April 23, 2011 7:46 pm

I agree, it would be a bit like the Cadillac wagons from ASC, a what if?. Correct me if I’m wrong, but hadn’t Ralph Nader and hysterical journalism now regarded as normal killed the lovely new Vair in the starting gate? GM had already written it off, the public was still hesitant about buying an orphan, 1958 was only a fews back, the decimation of the independants and the Edsel was still around. Studebaker was next. A Vair wagon based on the 4-dr hardtop would have been lovely, but what in the corporate parts bin could have been used to make the wagon?
and even now, what would one use to do it? A headscratcher, but I’d love to see a Vair fan with too much time on his/her hands, and money pull it off.
Glen

Marksays:

April 15, 2011 3:19 pm

Mike Holahansays:

April 15, 2011 4:22 pm

One of my favorite cars was a ’56 Rambler Cross Country. I had it through college ’57-’60. Not exactly a college kid’s car but I loved it; made lots of trips between Iowa and Florida with it and even transported a spinett(sp) piano from Dubuque to So. Bend, lying on its back with inches to spare in all directions. They still made station wagons to do a job of work in those days. Who needed SUVs?
M. Holahan.

Earl Welchsays:

April 15, 2011 5:56 pm

We had a ’55 Ford 9 passenger Country Squire wagon, nice car but HARD seats! Then a rare ’56 Mercury 2 dr. wagon, fast! Then a fine, low mileage ’59 Chevy Nomad With a “348” and turboglide. Rode like a Cadillac but poor gas mileage! But it was worth it.

casey shainsays:

April 15, 2011 6:00 pm

The pillarless hardtop styling applied to wagons, is just about the most glamourous bodystyle of all time. To me, anyway. They’re glorious, in both 2- and 4-door versions. I think a ’59 Mercury 2-door pillarless hardtop wagon is just swell!

Joesays:

April 15, 2011 6:03 pm

My Dad always had mainly Chevy station wagons in the 50’s-80’s.
I remember his 57,60,62,65,68 chevy’s all nice cars. He needed a station wagon for his business and us 7 kids. Great memories going to Watervaliet,MI on summer holidays.

April 15, 2011 11:08 pm

Jim Garbarinosays:

April 17, 2011 2:28 am

My dad bought a new Oldsmobile every three years and I remember his 57, Super Eighty Eight, 4 door sedan with the special 3 rear windows with styling creases in the top down through the window seperations to the trunk. We had that car about a month when my dad took us kids fishing and parked on a hill overlooking the lake. He put it in park and told us kids not to mess with anything while he looked to see where he could launch our boat. Well my little brother slipped it into neutral and the car rolled down the hill into the lake with the boat attached to it. No one was hurt but boy was my dad mad. When we got help to pull it out a tractor hooked to rear of in and immediately pulled the rear bumper off. We were stuck there a couple of days but the car had relatively minor damage and my dad had if fixed and we enjoyed that car for 3 more years.